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A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to attend a local HT shop's demo night. I've been on thier mailing list for a while, but something had always come up and so I couldn't make it the last couple of years.
There were several rooms setup with demos running every half hour. The first demo I attended was a Pioneer and Mirage room. On demo was a Pioneer 50" Plasma running off the Pioneer DV45A DVD player and and Elite receiver, which I think it was a VSX-49TX. The speakers were the new Mirage OmniSats.
I was talking to the Pioneer guy and asked him for a quick demo of a DVD Audio title. Luckily he had one in his trusty case. The DVDA demo was unscheduled but you could tell the people that were getting ready for the main demo were impressed. He sampled the Doors, Rider in the Storm track and some other tracks.
On to the main demo, there was a quick presentation about Plasma and that Pioneer is only one of the few manufacturers that actually makes their own plasmas also they are heavily investing in the technology and see it as the future. I asked exactly how large each pixel was and how small did he think they will reach in the next few years. Unfortunately he couldn't answer the pixel size, and the generic "it'll get smaller"
There was a lot of talk before the video and audio demo. The Mirage guy was up next and he was a pretty high up guy. I missed his name but he's been involved with the company for years. The demo was the openning battle scene from Gladiator. What was really impressive was the OmniSats. The soundstage was excellent as well as the lowend, well from the powered sub. What I found really cool was how when one person was standing infront of the speaker, it didn't really affect the imaging. There were other audio demo's as well, but none that I was very familiar with. The video was less impressive. I've yet to see a plasma display impress me. It's a cool toy, but for me, that's all it is.
On to the next room. This was another Pioneer/Mirage room. I had the chance to go see others, but I wanted to stay with products that I could actually afford down the road. There were other rooms that housed, Krell, Arcam, McIntosh, Runco, Linn, and sadly Bose. Well on to the components.
The room housed a complete set of Mirage OM Series speakers, they really looked quite good. Video was a Pioneer Elite 50" Plasma and the source was a Pioneer DV-47Ai connected digitally to the Elite VSX-49TXi receiver. Another reason I chose this room was to hear the 49TXi and the 47Ai in action. I was also interested in seeing what kind of difference the Elite 50" Plasma had over the nonElite.
Let me get the display setup out of the way. That was a bit of a let down. Mainly due to the actual demo DVD that was used, Mouse Hunt, sure it has a nice DTS sound track but it's not what I would call a reference video disc to put on to make one's display shine.
The audio on the other hand was just heavenly. One demo was Titanic Theme sung by Celin Dion. Wow the sound stage was huge, yet very intimate. I belive that was a SACD recording, so I don't know if it was SACD or the speakers. There was another tune played but I just can't remember what it was, the first demo was just so ingrained in my mind.
Finally I just wandered around the store a bit to check it out. I did pop into the Bose room as I saw the Toy Story 2 openning scene being run. I stayed for the first couple of minutes as I was curious to see what was missing. All I can say was a lot! Even my old 8" Energy sub put out more punch. As I was leaving a salesperson came upto me and said I should stay for the Bose demo. I said why? I've seen it before and that system just doesn't compare to all the great products they have in the store.
What really impressed me the most was those Mirage OmniSats. They are affordable place anywhere type speakers. I'd recommend them for secondary use, though some people would probably find them quite satisfying for main HT use. On the horizon will be bookshelf speakers coming out based on the OmniSat technology. One with a 4" bass driver and another with a 5.25" driver. The 4" should be out by now in the US, for sure by Christmas, and the 5.25" model should be out early next year.
Paul
There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.
There were several rooms setup with demos running every half hour. The first demo I attended was a Pioneer and Mirage room. On demo was a Pioneer 50" Plasma running off the Pioneer DV45A DVD player and and Elite receiver, which I think it was a VSX-49TX. The speakers were the new Mirage OmniSats.
I was talking to the Pioneer guy and asked him for a quick demo of a DVD Audio title. Luckily he had one in his trusty case. The DVDA demo was unscheduled but you could tell the people that were getting ready for the main demo were impressed. He sampled the Doors, Rider in the Storm track and some other tracks.
On to the main demo, there was a quick presentation about Plasma and that Pioneer is only one of the few manufacturers that actually makes their own plasmas also they are heavily investing in the technology and see it as the future. I asked exactly how large each pixel was and how small did he think they will reach in the next few years. Unfortunately he couldn't answer the pixel size, and the generic "it'll get smaller"
There was a lot of talk before the video and audio demo. The Mirage guy was up next and he was a pretty high up guy. I missed his name but he's been involved with the company for years. The demo was the openning battle scene from Gladiator. What was really impressive was the OmniSats. The soundstage was excellent as well as the lowend, well from the powered sub. What I found really cool was how when one person was standing infront of the speaker, it didn't really affect the imaging. There were other audio demo's as well, but none that I was very familiar with. The video was less impressive. I've yet to see a plasma display impress me. It's a cool toy, but for me, that's all it is.
On to the next room. This was another Pioneer/Mirage room. I had the chance to go see others, but I wanted to stay with products that I could actually afford down the road. There were other rooms that housed, Krell, Arcam, McIntosh, Runco, Linn, and sadly Bose. Well on to the components.
The room housed a complete set of Mirage OM Series speakers, they really looked quite good. Video was a Pioneer Elite 50" Plasma and the source was a Pioneer DV-47Ai connected digitally to the Elite VSX-49TXi receiver. Another reason I chose this room was to hear the 49TXi and the 47Ai in action. I was also interested in seeing what kind of difference the Elite 50" Plasma had over the nonElite.
Let me get the display setup out of the way. That was a bit of a let down. Mainly due to the actual demo DVD that was used, Mouse Hunt, sure it has a nice DTS sound track but it's not what I would call a reference video disc to put on to make one's display shine.
The audio on the other hand was just heavenly. One demo was Titanic Theme sung by Celin Dion. Wow the sound stage was huge, yet very intimate. I belive that was a SACD recording, so I don't know if it was SACD or the speakers. There was another tune played but I just can't remember what it was, the first demo was just so ingrained in my mind.
Finally I just wandered around the store a bit to check it out. I did pop into the Bose room as I saw the Toy Story 2 openning scene being run. I stayed for the first couple of minutes as I was curious to see what was missing. All I can say was a lot! Even my old 8" Energy sub put out more punch. As I was leaving a salesperson came upto me and said I should stay for the Bose demo. I said why? I've seen it before and that system just doesn't compare to all the great products they have in the store.
What really impressed me the most was those Mirage OmniSats. They are affordable place anywhere type speakers. I'd recommend them for secondary use, though some people would probably find them quite satisfying for main HT use. On the horizon will be bookshelf speakers coming out based on the OmniSat technology. One with a 4" bass driver and another with a 5.25" driver. The 4" should be out by now in the US, for sure by Christmas, and the 5.25" model should be out early next year.
Paul
There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count, and those that can't.
I bought my first 301 disc Elite DVD changer at one of the sales, TiVo at one of the sales too, lol. Gosh, I couldn't live without TiVo now. It really does change the way you watch television.
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